LDP’s Tokyo Election Triumph Could Presage National Win

After scoring their biggest victory in Tokyo municipal elections since 1963, the odds of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party regaining control of the crucial upper house in July have sharply increased.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party took back the lead in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on Sunday after suffering a defeat in 2009, winning 59 seats out of 127. That was the most seats the party took in an election since it picked up 69 seats in April 1963 elections. Along with their longtime coalition partner, New Komeito, the LDP secured nearly two-thirds of the chamber.